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Marketing Heart Rate Monitors

June 29, 2011

Can you think of three reasons off the top of your head for your members to wear heart rate monitors while they exercise?

Great! Tell them.

On Tuesday, I was watching the USA Women’s Soccer team take on North Korea in the Women’s World Cup. At one point, one of the women (forgive me for not knowing who) went up for a header and as she came down she revealed (not a Mia Hamm reveal) a black strap going around her core.

Apparently, the USA Women wear heart rate monitors during play. The coach monitors the players’ heart rates the entire match and uses it to control the tempo of the game. As I was running on the treadmill, hearing this information I was blown away. What a phenomenal idea!

But, like I’m supposed to do, I started thinking about all of you. How could this affect your members, and subsequently your club?

I’ve noticed through my short existence that when teams and players are broadcast on a national and international level, the smallest things they do can create shifts in consumer markets.

If a soccer player wears Nike, Adidas or Puma, it can completely change which company sells more that week. In terms of the heart rate monitors, your members will take notice.

The USA Women are ranked #1 in the world and are going to get a lot of airtime over the next couple of weeks. This means that broadcasters are going to probably discuss heart rate monitors again. They will discuss the benefits and how it helps the players and coaches. You should get out in front on this.

Considering the team is using the product, it gives you almost a free marketing strategy to get your members to use heart rate monitors. Talk to them about major athletes (USA Women’s Soccer) using the monitors. Once they can identify with someone they watch regularly, they will be able to see the benefits and have a desire to use your monitors.

Just remember, World Cup only happens ever four years, so hurry and get on this before you lose your easy marketing strategy.